KR-102961870-B1 - BATTERY MODULE, BATTERY RACK AND ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM COMPRISING THE BATTERY MODULE

Abstract

A battery module according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a battery cell; a module case accommodating the battery cell; a fire extinguishing unit having at least a portion disposed inside the module case and directly spraying a fire extinguishing agent inside the module case; an insulating cover having at least a portion covered by the fire extinguishing unit and at least a portion disposed inside the module case; and a cooling air exhaust portion formed on the rear surface of the module case, spaced apart from the insulating cover and the fire extinguishing unit by a predetermined distance.

Inventors

• 이영석
• 조상현
• 배경현
• 신진규
• 이진규

Assignees

• 주식회사 엘지에너지솔루션

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20201106

Priority Date

20191108

Claims (10)

1. In battery modules, At least one battery cell; A module case accommodating at least one battery cell; A fire extinguishing unit that is at least partially disposed inside the module case and is connected to a fire extinguishing tank unit equipped with a fire extinguishing agent, and which directly sprays the fire extinguishing agent inside the module case in the event of thermal runaway or fire of the at least one battery cell; An insulating cover that covers at least partially the fire extinguishing unit, with at least a portion disposed inside the module case; and It includes a cooling air exhaust portion formed on the rear of the module case, which is spaced apart from the insulating cover and the fire extinguishing unit by a predetermined distance. The above insulating cover is, A cover base mounted on the rear of the above module case; A cover cap protruding a predetermined length from the cover base into the module case; and A battery module characterized by including a water supply guide formed on the cover cap above and guiding the spraying of a fire extinguishing agent of the fire extinguishing unit.
2. In paragraph 1, The lower part of the above-mentioned cooling air discharge section is, A battery module characterized by being provided at a predetermined height from the lower rear of the above module case.
3. In paragraph 2, The above-mentioned fire extinguishing unit is, A battery module characterized in that at least a portion of the above penetrates the module case and is disposed inside the module case on the inner side of the insulating cover.
4. delete
5. In paragraph 1, The above insulating cover is, A battery module characterized by including a heat flow hole formed in the above-mentioned cover cap and provided on the opposite side of the above-mentioned water guide.
6. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned water guide is, A battery module characterized by including a plurality of guide ribs formed to a predetermined length along the longitudinal direction of the cover cap and spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance to form a plurality of openings.
7. In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned fire extinguishing unit is, A unit body connected to the above-mentioned fire extinguishing tank unit; and A battery module characterized by including a spray nozzle provided on the unit body and for spraying the fire extinguishing agent toward the battery cell side inside the module case.
8. In Paragraph 7, The above injection nozzle is, A nozzle body connected to the above-mentioned unit body and provided with a spray hole for spraying the fire extinguishing agent; and A battery module characterized by including a glass bulb provided in the nozzle body and configured to cover the injection hole, wherein when the interior of the module case is exposed to internal gas at a temperature above a predetermined temperature, the glass bulb is configured to detach from the injection hole or at least partially break to open the injection hole.
9. At least one battery module according to claim 1; and A battery rack characterized by including a rack case that accommodates at least one battery module.
10. A power storage device characterized by including at least one battery rack according to claim 9.

Description

Battery module, and battery rack and power storage system comprising the same The present invention relates to a battery module, and a battery rack and power storage device including the same. Secondary batteries, which possess electrical characteristics such as high energy density and high applicability across product groups, are widely applied not only to portable devices but also to electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) powered by electric sources. These secondary batteries are attracting attention as a new energy source for enhancing eco-friendliness and energy efficiency, not only for the primary advantage of drastically reducing the use of fossil fuels but also because they generate no by-products from energy use. Currently, widely used types of secondary batteries include lithium-ion batteries, lithium-polymer batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, and nickel-zinc batteries. The operating voltage of these unit secondary battery cells, or unit battery cells, is approximately 2.5V to 4.5V. Therefore, if a higher output voltage is required, multiple battery cells are connected in series to form a battery pack. Additionally, depending on the charge/discharge capacity required for the battery pack, multiple battery cells are connected in parallel to form a battery pack. Accordingly, the number of battery cells included in the battery pack can be varied depending on the required output voltage or charge/discharge capacity. Meanwhile, when configuring a battery pack by connecting multiple battery cells in series or parallel, it is common practice to first configure a battery module containing at least one battery cell, and then use this at least one battery module to add other components to form the battery pack. Here, the battery pack containing at least one battery module may also constitute a power storage device comprising at least one such battery pack, depending on various voltage and capacity requirements. In the case of conventional battery modules, when thermal runaway occurred within the module, the transfer between battery cells continued, causing a problem in which all battery cells were damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to seek measures to rapidly stop such thermal runaway when it occurs. FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining a battery module according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the battery module of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of the battery module of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a partially exploded view of the battery module of Figure 1. Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of the battery module of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a partially exploded perspective view of the battery module of Figure 5. Figures 7 and 8 are drawings for explaining the insulating cover of the battery module of Figure 6. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the battery module of Figure 1. FIGS. 10 to 12 are drawings for explaining the mechanism for injecting a fire extinguishing agent into the module case in the event of a fire or thermal runaway situation in the battery module of FIG. 1. FIGS. 13 and FIGS. 14 are drawings for explaining how to secure a predetermined water level when injecting a fire extinguishing agent into the battery module of FIG. 12. FIG. 15 is a drawing for explaining a battery rack according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a drawing for explaining a power storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described herein are illustrative for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the invention, and it should be understood that the present invention may be implemented in various modified forms different from the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, to aid in understanding the invention, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to actual scale, and the dimensions of some components may be exaggerated. FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of the battery module of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of the battery module of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the battery module (10) may include a battery cell (100), a module case (200), a fire extinguishing unit (300), an insulating cover (400), and a cooling air discharge unit (500). The above battery cell (100) may be provided as a secondary battery, such as a pouch-type secondary battery, a prismatic secondary battery, or a cylindrical secondary battery. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the battery cell (100) is described as being limited to being a pouch-type secondary battery. The ab